Uber buys Geometric Intelligence, launches AI lab

Car-hailing giant Uber is trying to beef up its data science credentials with the acquisition of US-based AI startup Geometric Intelligence.

Geometric Intelligence‘s team of brainiacs will join Uber for an undisclosed fee in what is being touted as a move to improve its data science credentials through the simultaneous creation of Uber AI Labs.

The unit will be tasked with working on Uber’s ambitions in the world of self-drive vehicles and also slicing and dicing the reams of data that the company captures about both customers and network of drivers.

The decision to acquire Geometric Intelligence comes as other tech giants such as Google and Apple, as well as self-drive poster child Tesla, develop their own ideas to enter the market, with many claiming machine learning and AI is central to understanding how vehicles will operate in such a new world of motoring.